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Wednesday, 20 February 2013

LA + Santa Barbara Photo Diary Part 2

Hello! Here is the second and final part of my LA and Santa Barbara photo diary! This is the final three days of my trip and probably the best days, I didn't know anyone on the trip and made friends with the girl I was sharing a room with, we then started going around with three other girls and towards the end of the trip we got on really well and got to know each other better.

On the Sunday we went to Universal Studios, I didn't know what to expect as the last time I went was when I was eight and it was the one in Florida. If you haven't been, it has rides but it's not really a theme park, it also has shops and shows.

We went on the tram tour which I really liked, we went round and saw the Desperate Housewives set! As well as lots of other sets from films including the hotel from Psycho! It was quite odd seeing sets that I had seen in films, the only thing I didn't like was the fact that they enjoy throwing water at you! Me and one of the other girls kept grabbing each other and hiding because we don't like water!

To get to different rides you have to climb up mountains of stairs! This was the view from the top, it was beautiful! This was our first day in Los Angeles and I was loving it!

We went to a water show, I wasn't too keen on going to this as I know they like throwing water into the audience but we managed to avoid it! I usually hate rides but the other girls liked them so I decided to just go for it and we went on The Mummy ride, although it was very fast, it wasn't too bad! We ended up going on it 5 times in a row! I was in the mood to try literally everything as I didn't know when I would get the opportunity to go again, I decided to go into the "House of horrors," in England these are usually so bad it's funny, so I decided to go in. BIG mistake. I don't actually like these things but was persuaded to go in, four of us went in and we got to the first part when we refused to go through the door as this man was just terrifying, everyone behind us got so pissed off as we were screaming and wouldn't move! In the end I ran out (creepy man also decided to chase me as I ran..) and was shaking for about ten minutes afterwards! The other three girls came out and looked petrified! When we met up at the end of the day the teachers said they literally ran through the whole thing with their eyes closed!

I don't have many photos of the Monday but we went to Sony Studios, this was awesome as we saw so many sets for television shows! We saw Angelina Jolie's Dad, I think he was filming something. Everyone got really excited but I had no idea who he was until they said "it's Angelina Jolie's Dad!!" haha! We saw the GhostBusters car! We then went to Santa Monica Pier and went for some more shopping! In the evening it was our final meal so all 20 of us went out together! We went to a place called Saddle Ranch and it was so nice to all do something together as we had all been in our groups! We had a four course meal and then candy floss after! I'm not great with sugar so I was a little crazy afterwards! ;)

On the last day we went for a group breakfast at Jerry's Diner, I had pancakes with chocolate chips and ice cream! It was AMAZING! We were then picked up and went for an open top tour of Hollywood, we did this on the coldest day, we had blankets and were all huddling together as it was so cold!

We turned around and Tim Burton was getting out of his car! This was really exciting as I love his films!

I was just snapping away photos and everyone was saying "Oh my gosh it's Chris O'Dowd!" I'm glad I got a photo even though I didn't mean to!

This is the hotel from Pretty Woman, all the girls were getting excited and having seen Pretty Women a million times I also got excited!

We then went to the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, which was quite scary as I think people are aware that it's a tourist place as there were so many people trying to get money! So many people hand you CD's, say it's theirs and they worked with "name of popular artist," compliment you and then ask for money and if you refuse they take the CD off of you! We then went to Venice Beach, it was quite strange going from looking at $20 million houses in the morning and then seeing a drunk homeless man face down in the sand on the beach! (He was alive, I checked! Haha!) Three of us really wanted to hire bikes and cycle along the beach, so we did! It was one of the most amazing feelings ever, I'm not sure why! It's just such an interesting place and I felt so lucky to be there! We cycled for ages and almost reached Santa Monica Pier! They have a little track for cyclists like a road and everyone skates and cycles along it!

We then had to leave and go to the airport! I was so upset to leave, I could have stayed there for so much longer. We had a night flight which I like as they dim the lights and it's quieter! When we got on the plane one of our teachers said to us "apparently Rupert Grint is on the plane." Me and two of the other girls decided we were going to "slyly" go and see our other teacher who was nearer to the front of the plane, we then casually (not) walked to the front and right past Rupert Grint, I had a mini heart attack. We had then reached the front of the plane so had to pretend we got lost and walk back! Haha! When we landed we went to luggage claim and he was there again, we went to talk to him and people got photos with him, unfortunately he left before I could get a photo with him! Hmphh! I really don't get that excited about celebrities but on the trip I had seen three people who I admire so it was really cool!

I still can't admit that I'm back in England! I still have my watch on LA time which I really should change, haha!